Evan. Diana Palmer

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ except for his great size. Evan had hands the size of plates. He was even intimidating to some of the women in the office, who made innuendoes that Anna was too sheltered to understand. But Anna found nothing frightening about him at all. She loved him.

      He was aware of that silent stare, but he didn’t react to it. She was playing games again, he knew it. She had to be aware that the whiskey would draw his attention. It had worked. He had to be more careful from now on, not to fall into her little traps.

      But it wasn’t that easy. When he came out of Polly’s office, Anna wasn’t at her desk. He found her outside near his car, on her hands and knees beside the small white Porsche her mother had bought her, looking through a small toolbox.

      “Looking for something?” he asked.

      “Yes. For my left-handed Johnson wrench.”

      He sighed impatiently. “There’s no such thing.”

      “There is so. Johnson is the local mechanic and he’s left-handed. I borrowed his wrench and now I’ve lost it.”

      He threw up his hands. “What’s gotten into you today?”

      “Maddened passion,” she said, standing up, her eyes wide and theatrical, like her audible breathing. “I’m dying for you!” She threw her arms wide and sprawled against the side of the car. “Go ahead, ravish me!”

      He was having to choke back laughter. “Where?” he asked, glancing around the big car park.

      “On the hood of the car, in the trunk, I don’t care!” She was still holding the pose, her eyes closed.

      “The hood would break under your weight, never mind mine, and I don’t think I could get my head and shoulders in that tiny trunk.”

      She opened her eyes and glared at him. “On the pavement?”

      He shook his head. “Too hard.”

      “The grass.”

      “Chiggers and fire ants.” He folded his arms over his chest, and his eyes ran down her body slowly and without his usual detachment. In fact, the bold gaze unnerved her. No one, not even Randall, had ever looked at her in that particular glittery way, as if he knew what she looked like with her clothes off.

      Defensively, she folded her arms across her jacket. “Don’t do that,” she said softly.

      “You started it, honey,” he reminded her, and moved deliberately closer, threatening her with his size and strength. She looked nervous now, which was what he intended. Playing games with grown men could be dangerous. Someone needed to prove it to her.

      “Evan…” she said uneasily.

      The car park was deserted, and Anna’s bravado was quickly disappearing. Flirting was one thing, but she still wasn’t quite sure of herself in any intimate situation. She could handle Randall, but Evan had an untamed look about him. He might seem like a big teddy bear at times, but the Tremayne brothers were a fiery bunch and he was the eldest. Probably Connal, Harden and Donald had learned all they knew from his example.

      “What’s the matter?” he asked with a mocking smile when she backed against the car like a kitten at bay. “Not as safe as you thought?”

      She didn’t know what she thought anymore. He smelled of cologne and soap, and his height and size were intimidating.

      “It’s broad daylight,” she pointed out.

      “I know that.” He pursed his wide lips and smiled down at her, but it wasn’t any kind of smile she’d ever seen on his lips before. Or on any other man’s, come to think of it. It was sensuous and masculine and very arrogant, as if he knew that her knees were weak and her heart was beating her to death.

      “I really have to go, Evan,” she said, sounding frantic.

      He could have pushed it. He almost did. Her very vulnerability attracted him as her blatant flirting never had. His eyes fell to her high, full breasts and narrowed. She was voluptuous in the very best way, well-endowed enough to almost fill hands even the size of his. He started at the direction his thoughts were taking. Anna was a virgin. He reminded himself of that silently and forced his eyes back up to her flushed, stunned face.

      “I thought you wanted to get ravished,” he said softly, the velvety depth of his voice a threat in itself. “Running away before we even get started?”

      She swallowed down her fear and eased away from him, laughing nervously. He made her feel young and totally green. “I’ll need to take a lot of vitamins first, to get in shape,” she said, glancing at him as she opened the door of her car and climbed in. “Hold that thought, though.”

      He laughed gently at her grit. She had courage, and she bounced back fast. If she’d been a few years older, anything might happen. “Okay, rabbit, hit the road. But next time, be sure you know what you’re asking for,” he added, and his eyes were serious. “A man won’t usually turn down a blatant invitation, even if it’s against his better judgment.”

      “You’ve been turning me down for years,” she reminded him, catching her breath. “You’re experienced.”

      His dark eyes narrowed on her face. “Yes, I am,” he said quietly. “Keep that in mind. You’re still at the stage where you think a man’s appetite can be satisfied by a few soft kisses. Mine can’t.”

      She glared at him. “I wasn’t offering…!”

      “Weren’t you?”

      She averted her gaze to her fingers on the key in the ignition. “No, I wasn’t,” she said curtly. “I was only teasing.”

      “That kind of teasing can be dangerous. Practice on Randall. He’s safer than I am.”

      “At least he wants me,” she muttered, and she abruptly started the car.

      “Good for him,” he replied. “Don’t speed in that toy car.”

      She moved the toolbox from the passenger seat to the floorboard. “I never speed,” she lied.

      He watched her fasten her seat belt. “Through for the day already?” he taunted softly.

      “I’m having lunch with my best friend,” she said evasively.

      He lifted his eyebrows. “I didn’t know you had one.”

      She didn’t answer him. She backed out of the parking spot and managed to take off without stripping the gears. Tears glittered in her eyes, but he wouldn’t see them.

      She stopped at a nearby restaurant and had a hamburger, all by herself. She had no girlfriends. She liked Randall very well. He was a resident at the hospital, the son of the local doctor, and not bad looking. Of course, he did have a wandering eye, but Anna got along with him and didn’t feel threatened by him. Her heart was Evan’s, sadly enough. How terrible, to love a man who treated you like a child and made fun of you when you offered yourself to him. She could have bawled. Actually, everything was bravado with her, where Evan was concerned. She’d teased him just to get his attention. But having gotten it, she didn’t know what to do with it. He was experienced, and she СКАЧАТЬ